


Penny for your cuddle?

by AnnaTheHank



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Getting Together, M/M, South Downs Cottage (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:55:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23966500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaTheHank/pseuds/AnnaTheHank
Summary: Aziraphale, ready to take their relationship to the next level, keeps trying to initiate a cuddle with Crowley. But the guy is just too dense/anxious to respond.Eventually, however, Aziraphale does get his snuggle.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 155





	Penny for your cuddle?

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently I am still capable of writing one-shots you guys. Good to know
> 
> Happy belated 30th, y'all!! Thank you so much for reading and interacting and you all do <3 I love you guys a lot!!
> 
> Here's to 30 more!

Crowley was bored, was the problem. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy retirement. In fact, he loved it. Not having to do Hell’s bidding, not having to witness or create great tragedy, not having to hide his feelings for Aziraphale. Well. He did still have to hide _some_ feelings. Just not all of them.

But despite moving in with Aziraphale, retirement was still boring. They had gotten away from the hustle and bustle, somewhere quaint and quiet. And Crowley didn’t quite know what to do with himself. 

So he slept a lot. Mostly during the nights. He told Aziraphale he was just doing things ‘the human way’. So while Aziraphale stayed up in his study and read or listened to music or whatever it was he got up to while Crowley wasn’t bothering him, Crowley would sleep. He would curl up in his bed, wrap himself around a long body pillow, and pretend a certain angel was there instead. 

Then one night, the door to the bedroom opened only a few minutes after Crowley had settled himself down. 

“Sorry, Dear,” Aziraphale said as Crowley sat up to greet him. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, no. Just laid down actually,” Crowley said. “What’s up?”

“Well, I was thinking I could give your whole sleeping thing a shot.” 

Aziraphale stepped fully into the room then and Crowley snorted. The guy was wearing a white and blue striped pajama set that looked like it came right out of the fifties.

Aziraphale furrowed his eyebrows and looked down, picking at the edges of his shirt. “Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing? I thought it would be appropriate.”

Crowley, who wore a simple over-sized t-shirt and boxers, shook his head. “Nah. You’re fine.” He paused. “You uh, you’re gonna sleep in here?” Aziraphale nodded. “Would you like me to leave?”

“Oh no!” Aziraphale smiled a bit, the moonlight casting soft shadows over his cheeks. “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”

Aziraphale stepped up to the bed and lifted the edge of the blanket with a raised eyebrow. Crowley shrugged and scooted over. He pulled the pillow with him, creating a small barrier between their two bodies.

“Well, I say,” Aziraphale did say as he settled down into the mattress. “Rather comfortable this, no?”

“Uh, yeah.” Crowley turned on his back himself, staring at the ceiling so he wouldn't stare at Aziraphale. He probably should get up and leave. He wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. Not with Aziraphale being so close. Not with how warm it was in the bed now. Hot really.

Aziraphale gave a little shiver. “A bit cold in here tonight. Don’t you think?” 

Was he looking at him? Crowley didn’t dare turn his head to check. He gulped and snapped another blanket into existence, covering them both in a second layer of heat. 

“Ah,” Aziraphale said. He shifted, probably staring back up at the ceiling. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Crowley croaked out.

They lay there for another few minutes, Crowley staring at the wall, his mind wandering through a million thoughts it shouldn’t. What would it be like to curl himself around Aziraphale? How soft would he be? How much warmer with all that angelic radiance directly against his skin? How would it feel to touch? To hold? To k-

“I think my pillow is too lumpy.” Aziraphale sat up a bit, pulling the pillow up with him. He started molding and fluffing it in his hands, frowning. He looked back down at Crowley. “Perhaps I could try yours?”

“Oh. Oh, yeah.” Crowley sat up, glad to have a break from his own spiraling mind. He grabbed his pillow and shoved it at Aziraphale. 

“Well, I wouldn’t want you to go without,” Aziraphale said. He tilted his head down a bit, looking up at Crowley through his eyelashes.

“No problem!” Crowley said, perhaps a little too quick. He took Aziraphale’s pillow and flopped back down on it. “I like lumps.”

“I see.” 

Aziraphale sounded...disappointed? And Crowley pondered over that as Aziraphale settled back down on his new pillow. Truth was, this other one wasn’t really all that lumpy. But, Crowley figured, the angel did have particular tastes.

Aziraphale took a sharp breath, like he was getting ready to say something, then let it out in a deep sigh. “Good night, Dear,” he said. 

“Night, Angel,” Crowley said. 

And then they both laid there, awake, until morning.

-

Crowley had taken a short nap after Aziraphale had gotten up with the sun. Just a few hours to dispel the exhaustion that he had come up with while thinking all his never-ending thoughts. He woke up again to the sounds of clanging in their backyard. 

Crowley got up, stretched, and went to peek out the window. He caught the briefest glimpse of someone rounding the side of the house. It _could_ have been Aziraphale. But Aziraphale was much more of an ‘indoor’ frolicker. So Crowley figured he’d go check it out, just in case.

It had, as it turned out, been Aziraphale. He was wearing a pair of overalls, which made Crowley almost snort again. And his lovely blond curls were hidden away beneath a wide-brimmed, straw hat. Hands covered by thick gardening gloves carried pots of soil around, each with a little sprig of something green in them. 

“What are you doing?” Crowley asked, watching him work. 

“Hm?” Aziraphale looked over, surprised by Crowley’s arrival. “Oh, good morning, Dear. Sleep well?”

Crowley walked up to him and took the pot from his hand, studying the offending verdigris inside it. “What are you _doing_?” he repeated.

“Ah, well.” Aziraphale took the pot back, rather forcefully. “I remember you talking about all those plants you used to have. And, well, I thought it might be nice to have a garden.” He gestured to the tilled plots of land and raised flower beds around them. 

“Wha…why would you think that?” 

Aziraphale’s face dropped, his mouth turning down into a frown. “Oh. Well. I just...I just figured you like them...was all…”

“Angel, there’s a reason I didn’t bring any with me.”

Aziraphale’s shoulders fell as well. The pot hung low and limp in his hands, in danger of dropping to the ground and shattering. “I see. I-I’m terribly sorry. You’re right. How silly of me.” He tried to chuckle, but it just didn’t sound right. “Well, shouldn’t be a problem to fix.” He snapped his fingers and the hours of work he had done that morning were gone.

“Why didn’t you just do that to begin with?” Crowley wondered. “Instead of doing all that… _manual labor_?”

Aziraphale gulped a bit and looked to the side. The tinge of pink on his cheeks was surely just from being out in the sun so much. “Well, I wanted to get a head start, but I figured it might be something you’d like to do with me. Is all.”

Crowley recoiled a bit, feeling the cold, heavy weight of guilt pool in the back of his chest. “Oh.” He rubbed over his neck. “I mean, we can still do something together. Anything you want.” _Anything to take that horrid look off your face._

“I wanted to do something you want to do,” Aziraphale explained. 

And that was the problem, wasn’t it? Crowley wasn’t sure what he wanted to do? He was finding it a little difficult to decide on activities these days. 

“I’d like to do anything you want to do,” he said. Because it wasn’t false.

Aziraphale looked like he was ready to argue, then he sighed and shook his head. “I’ll get cleaned up, then what do you say to some brunch?”

“I say that sounds like a good plan.”

-

Brunch had been lovely, and Aziraphale had gotten his smile back as they ate and talked about the latest book he was on. Then they had run a few errands, since they were already out, and went home. 

And the rest of the day passed as it normally did: Aziraphale doing any number of the things he enjoyed while Crowley watched and tried to figure this whole ‘relaxing’ thing out. Aziraphale had caught on like a pro. Crowley was still adjusting. 

“I do see why you enjoy this show,” Aziraphale said, startling Crowley from his night-time stupor. 

He had taken to watching T.V. at night, once Aziraphale found whatever project he was going to settle down with, but before Crowley decided to sleep away his boredom. He was currently watching The Golden Girls, but not really paying any attention to it. 

Aziraphale walked around the couch and sat down, right next to Crowley, nearly touching. “That one,” he pointed at the screen, “is a lot like you.” 

“Blanche,” Crowley told him. He was hot again, uncomfortably so, and he wondered why Aziraphale wasn’t sitting in all that open space next to him. Crowley pointed to Rose. “And that’s you.”

Aziraphale watched the scene for a moment, then smiled and laughed softly. “Are they very good friends, those two?”

Crowley couldn’t take his eyes off Aziraphale, even though he knew he should. Friends was one thing but...no, no. He couldn’t even consider _that_. “Oh yes,” he said. “Very good friends indeed.”

Aziraphale looked over at him and smiled. And it was like looking into the sun. Crowley gulped and quickly forced his attention back to the T.V. 

“Cold?” Aziraphale asked. He was holding a blanket in his hands that hadn’t been there before. 

Crowley shook his head and wondered why the angel was always cold these days. Maybe he was getting sick or something.

Aziraphale shrugged and draped the blanket over himself. Crowley glanced over at him and wished he hadn’t. Aziraphale looked all snug and comfy under that blanket, and Crowley wished for nothing more than to be snuggled up under there with him. 

But that could never happen. So he hunkered down in his spot, and ignored the inches separating them. 

Aziraphale scooted over.

Their arms touched.

Crowley nearly crawled out of his skin. 

“I think I’m gonna turn in for the night,” he announced, jumping to his feet rather quickly. He didn’t wait around for Aziraphale’s answer or argument. He raced to the bedroom and slammed the door. He just needed to be alone for a while.

-

Aziraphale kept himself locked up in his study all the next day. It wasn’t uncommon. He did that occasionally when he had something interesting to do and didn’t want Crowley bothering him. Crowley wished he had interesting things to do. 

He let Aziraphale know he was going out, and then headed to the city. He missed the activity. He loved Aziraphale and he loved living with him, but sometimes he wished he had pushed back a bit, when deciding where they would live. Wished he had suggested somewhere a little more...fun. 

But he could still take his days in. Could still sit around and watch people rush about. Could still have his little bits of fun. (Not as fun, anymore, when Aziraphale learned about his antics and lectured him, stating that he no long had Hell to cover for his ‘maniacal’ ways). But still fun nonetheless. 

And when Crowley got home, a little later than he had planned, he found the study, and the rest of the small cottage, empty. There was no note either, so Crowley raced outside, a panic he hadn’t known for sometime now gripping at his very soul.

“Aziraphale?” he called out.

“Up here, Dear,” Aziraphale called back.

Crowley sighed and closed his eyes, regaining his composure before he popped himself up to the roof. Aziraphale was sitting near the center, knees hugged to his chest, looking up at the stars.

“What are you doing up here?” Crowley asked. 

“It’s been awhile since I went stargazing,” Aziraphale explained. “And look how much more you can see out here.” He patted the spot next to him, and Crowley sat down. “Aren’t they just lovely?”

Crowley looked up and shrugged. “Same stars no matter where you see ‘em,” he said. They weren’t really all that interesting. Just balls of burning gas. 

Aziraphale frowned, his shoulders hunching a bit. “I’m sorry, Crowley.”

Crowley blinked, wildly surprised by where that came from, and stared at Aziraphale. “What?”

Aziraphale turned his head, laying it on his arms so his face was looking at Crowley, but his eyes were downcast, staring at the space between them. “I thought…” he sighed. “I thought I knew you so well. I thought that I knew you in the way you knew me. Your favorite foods, your shows you like, activities you enjoy...things you find alluring.” He sighed again and closed his eyes. “I guess I haven’t been much of a friend, have I?”

Crowley reeled back from this false realization. “What are you talking about? Of course you’ve been a good friend. The best friend. _My_ best friend! Where is this coming from, Aziraphale?”

Aziraphale turned his head to the other side, his voice softer and mumbled. “I thought you’d like the view out here,” he said. “And the space for a garden. And the little pond down the street with the frogs and the ducks.” He picked at the material of his pants. “But I was wrong, wasn’t I? Wrong about everything.”

“That’s not…” Crowley sighed and grabbed Aziraphale’s hands so they would stop fidgeting. Aziraphale’s head popped up and he stared, wide-eyed at Crowley and the most amount of physical contact they’ve ever had. “Aziraphale you weren’t wrong. I do love all those things. And I love them even more knowing you thought I would.”

Aziraphale relaxed a little bit, but he looked away sheepishly. “Well, I was wrong about one thing.”

“What?”

“No no! I can’t say. It’s silly.”

Crowley, still holding Aziraphale’s hands, scooted closer. “Tell me, Angel. Whatever it is, I can assure you you were probably right.”

Aziraphale glanced at him a few times. “Well I just...I thought you liked _me_ , is all.” And Crowley’s heart stopped beating, hanging like dead weight in his chest. “I mean, I know you like me as a friend but, well, you know.”

“I...I do,” Crowley said. And he whispered it. Like it was some big secret that only the two of them got to know. Like a grand revelation the rest of the universe wasn’t privy to. 

Aziraphale snapped his attention back to him. “You-you do?”

Crowley nodded. And it didn’t feel weird. Admitting it didn’t feel weird. And maybe it was all the thought that had gone into choosing this cottage, how Aziraphale had considered Crowley in his quest to find a perfect place to make their home in. Or maybe it was the way that Aziraphale was thinking about Crowley liking him. Whatever it was, Crowley didn’t feel scared, or worried at having just confessed his six thousand year old feelings. Not when he confessed them to Aziraphale. 

“I just thought, well you seemed so…” Aziraphale chuckled and relaxed his body, his own hands turning to hold Crowley’s back. “Perhaps you just aren’t a cuddler.”

Crowley’s face furrowed. “What would give you that idea? Of course I am! I’m the biggest cuddler around!”

“But you kept avoiding it!” Aziraphale said. “Whenever I tried to initiate one these last few days.”

“That’s what you were doing?” Crowley asked. He had hoped, but, of course, he couldn’t have been sure. Aziraphale nodded. “Well I didn’t _know_. I didn’t think you liked me!”

Aziraphale sat up straight, almost offended. “Well of course I do! Obviously!”

“Oh, yeah, _obviously_.” Crowley huffed. 

“And I’ll prove it.” Aziraphale leaned to the side, slipping one hand out of Crowley’s so he could wrap it around his waist, laying his head on Crowley’s shoulder. “There. See?”

Crowley saw, and felt. He flushed hot. He took his time untangling their other hand, placing his own arm around Aziraphale’s body, holding him tight. He was soft. And he was warm. And having Aziraphale pressed up against him was everything Crowley imagined it to be and more. 

Sure, he would still need to figure some things out before he got the hang of this whole ‘retirement’ deal. But at least he had Aziraphale on his side. And he knew the two of them together could figure out anything.


End file.
